Dissemination of innovations is widely considered the sine qua non for system improvement. At least two dozen states are rolling out evidence-based mental health practices targeted at children and ...families using trainings, consultations, webinars, and learning collaboratives to improve quality and outcomes. In New York State (NYS) a group of researchers, policymakers, providers, and family support specialists have worked in partnership since 2002 to redesign and evaluate the children's mental health system. Five system strategies driven by empirically based practices and organized within a state-supported infrastructure have been used in the child and family service system with more than 2,000 providers: (a) business practices, (b) use of health information technologies in quality improvement, (c) specific clinical interventions targeted at common childhood disorders, (d) parent activation, and (e) quality indicator development. The NYS system has provided a laboratory for naturalistic experiments. We describe these initiatives, key findings and challenges, lessons learned for scaling, and implications for creating evidence-based implementation policies in state systems.
Objective:The authors documented rates of sustained use of an evidence-based practice following training sponsored by New York State (NYS), and they identified clinician characteristics related to ...sustained use.Methods:Clinicians (N=89) who were employed in licensed NYS Office of Mental Health agencies serving children and adolescents and who were trained to proficiency in Managing and Adapting Practice (MAP) in 2016 were contacted between 9 and 18 months later and asked whether they were still using (users) or had stopped using (nonusers) MAP and their reason for doing so.Results:Responses were received from 57% of trainees and of those, 80% reported continued use of MAP. Score on the appeal subscale of the Evidence-Based Practices Attitude Scale (EBPAS) was the only significant difference between users and nonusers.Conclusions:Most clinicians reported sustained use of MAP. The EBPAS appeal subscale can be used to identify clinicians who are likely to discontinue use.
AIM: Fire regimes are a significant driver of plant adaptation and evolution, and projected changes under a changing climate will have significant implications for demographic and evolutionary ...responses of plant populations in fire‐prone regions globally. We tested predictions regarding level and pattern of genetic variation within a model post‐fire facultative seeder, Bossiaea ornata (Fabaceae), that exhibits a combination of both post‐fire resprouting and seeding strategies. LOCATION: Fire‐prone forests in the mediterranean‐climate region of south‐western Australia. METHODS: We genotyped individuals with eight microsatellite markers and four non‐coding chloroplast sequence regions to assess population genetic variation and reconstruct phylogeographical history. RESULTS: Extremely high levels of chloroplast (HD = 0.95) and nuclear (HE = 0.81) diversity were detected. Nuclear population differentiation was weak (FST = 0.06) and chloroplast phylogeographical structure was absent. A significant excess of rare chloroplast haplotypes was detected (D, FS, R₂; all P < 0.01), consistent with demographic expansion. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that a facultative seeding life‐history affords the benefits of both obligate resprouting and obligate seeding strategies in terms of resistance and resilience to fire. High diversity and low differentiation are likely driven by long generational overlap (resprouter feature), regular post‐fire population supplementation from a persistent soil seed bank (seeder feature) and long‐term stability. Expansion signals may be a feature of species with regular, synchronous post‐fire recruitment from a soil seed bank, rather than evidence of a single range or demographic expansion event, as typically interpreted. The facultative seeding strategy may therefore offer resilience to potential increases in fire frequency under a changing climate in fire‐prone regions.
Rare species are key targets of biodiversity conservation worldwide, but assessments of genetic diversity and conservation priority can be impeded by limited sample size. Reduced-representation ...genome sequencing improves resolution of analysis in this context, enabling applications in conservation genomics. The tree genus
Eucalyptus
contains many rare taxa, but clarity on conservation actions can be confounded in this group due to taxonomic complexity, unrecognised clonality and hybridisation. Using SNPs, we address key questions surrounding taxonomy, clonality and genetic diversity in two rare species,
Eucalyptus virginea
and a putative hybrid
E.
×
phylacis
, to inform conservation. We confirm that a highly disjunct population belongs to
E. virginea
despite sharing a multi-stemmed short-statured (‘mallee’) growth form and geographic proximity with a closely-related species, indicating that growth form was unrelated to phylogenetic distance. Clonality was confirmed in the disjunct population but the number of discrete clumps
vs
unique genets was not equal, reflecting the importance of genetic assessments of population size. The small, clonal, disjunct population had the lowest allelic richness and highest differentiation, as expected. However, heterozygosity excess suggested that clonality may prevent the loss of heterozygosity in mallee eucalypts by facilitating long-term persistence, contrary to expectations that small, isolated populations face increased conservation genetic threat. Analyses also confirmed that the Critically Endangered
E.
×
phylacis
is an F1 hybrid of
E. decipiens
and
E. virginea
, therefore its conservation listing should be revised. Our data highlight the usefulness of genomic analysis in applied conservation of non-model taxa.
Premise of the study: New microsatellite (simple sequence repeat SSR) primers were developed from Eucalyptus expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and optimized for genetic studies of the southwestern ...Australian tree E. gomphocephala, which is severely impacted by tree health decline and habitat fragmentation. Methods and Results: A total of 133 gene-homologous EST-SSR primer pairs were designed for Eucalyptus, and 44 were screened in E. gomphocephala. Of these, 17 produced reliable amplification products and 11 were polymorphic. Between two and 13 alleles were observed per locus, and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.172 to 0.867. All 17 EST-SSRs that amplified E. gomphocephala cross-amplified to at least one of E. marginata, E. camaldulensis, and E. victrix. Conclusions: This set of EST-SSR primer pairs will be valuable tools for future population genetic studies of E. gomphocephala and other eucalypts, particularly for studying gene-linked variation and informing seed-sourcing strategies for ecological restoration.
Premise of the study: Microsatellite primers were developed for Eucalyptus victrix (Myrtaceae) to evaluate the population and spatial genetic structure of this widespread northwestern Australian ...riparian tree species, which may be impacted by hydrological changes associated with mining activity. Methods and Results: 454 GS-FLX shotgun sequencing was used to obtain 1895 sequences containing putative microsatellite motifs. Ten polymorphic microsatellite loci were identified and screened for variation in individuals from two populations in the Pilbara region. Observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.44 to 0.91 (mean: 0.66) and the number of alleles per locus ranged from five to 25 (average: 11). Conclusions: These microsatellite loci will be useful in future studies of population and spatial genetic structure in E. victrix, and inform the development of seed sourcing strategies for the species.
Morphologically variable species complexes can present significant challenges to conservation when taxonomic boundaries, and therefore conservation units, are ambiguous. In such cases, the definition ...of Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) based on high-resolution genomic data can be an effective method to clarify genetic divergence and inform conservation actions. Here, we employ a population genomic approach using SNP data to delineate conservation units in a morphologically ambiguous plant species complex (
Conospermum caeruleum
; Proteaceae) from a global biodiversity hotspot. Over 200 individuals representing five subspecies and three informal morphological forms were sampled across a wide geographic range. Phylogenomic (ML tree and SplitsTree network) and population genomic (STRUCTURE, PCoA, F
ST
) analyses resolved three divergent genetic groups that were incongruent with the current taxonomy, but consistent with geographic distribution. One ESU was comprised of three genetic subgroups, and these can be considered Management Units (MUs) to conserve population genetic structure and diversity. These MUs were surprisingly incongruent with the current subspecies-level taxonomy, but one MU was consistent with a recently documented morphological form, and all were consistent with ecogeographic distribution. We recommend a full taxonomic revision of the
Conospermum
genus based on a phylogenomic approach to assess any wider incongruence with morphology, and that conservation strategies should be informed by genetic data. Our study exemplifies the application of genomics to the conservation of a morphologically ambiguous species complex, enabling and enhancing the practical conservation of appropriate units of biodiversity.
Understanding the environmental parameters that drive adaptation among populations is important in predicting how species may respond to global climatic changes and how gene pools might be managed to ...conserve adaptive genetic diversity. Here, we used Bayesian FST outlier tests and allele–climate association analyses to reveal two Eucalyptus EST‐SSR loci as strong candidates for diversifying selection in natural populations of a southwestern Australian forest tree, Eucalyptus gomphocephala (Myrtaceae). The Eucalyptus homolog of a CONSTANS‐like gene was an FST outlier, and allelic variation showed significant latitudinal clinal associations with annual and winter solar radiation, potential evaporation, summer precipitation and aridity. A second FST outlier locus, homologous to quinone oxidoreductase, was significantly associated with measures of temperature range, high summer temperature and summer solar radiation, with important implications for predicting the effect of temperature on natural populations in the context of climate change. We complemented these data with investigations into neutral population genetic structure and diversity throughout the species range. This study provides an investigation into selection signatures at gene‐homologous EST‐SSRs in natural Eucalyptus populations, and contributes to our understanding of the relationship between climate and adaptive genetic variation, informing the conservation of both putatively neutral and adaptive components of genetic diversity.
Premise of the study: Microsatellite primers were developed for Melaleuca argentea (Myrtaceae) to evaluate genetic diversity and population genetic structure of this broadly distributed northern ...Australian riparian tree species. Methods and Results: 454 GS-FLX shotgun sequencing was used to obtain 5860 sequences containing putative microsatellite motifs. Two multiplex PCRs were optimized to genotype 11 polymorphic microsatellite loci. These loci were screened for variation in individuals from two populations in the Pilbara region, northwestern Western Australia. Overall, observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.27 to 0.86 (mean: 0.52) and the number of alleles per locus ranged from two to 13 (average: 4.3). Conclusions: These microsatellite loci will be useful in future studies of the evolutionary history and population and spatial genetic structure in M. argentea, and inform the development of seed sourcing strategies for the species.
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